Golden Cue
Golden Cue is a Chinese sports company founded in Beijing in 2007. It specialises in cue sports, most notably snooker, showing matches live via subscription on the internet, and on Golden Cue TV in China. As of 2014, the company has headquarters in Beijing, Sheffield, London, and Melbourne. It currently sponsors six snooker events, most notably the Shanghai Masters, World Open and the China Open. Golden Cue has raised notoriety of the sport in China, and has also allowed more prize money to be injected into the sport of snooker, due to the wealth of the company and the interest in the sport from China. Golden Cue owner Lee Han Weng has offered to sponsor the World Snooker Championship by 2018, but it is not clear whether he wishes the event to relocate from its traditional home of the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn has insisted that although the company offers a substantial amount of money and interest in the game, it is paramount that the event remains in its current home. However, in his 2014 WPBSA Presidency Election pledge, confirmed he was "open" to moving the event to China when the current contracts expire in 2018. History Golden Cue was originally named "Jinse Tishi," the phonetic Latin alphabetic translation of Golden Cue in Mandarin. However, in 2008, it changed its name to Golden Cue to attract following in Europe and the United States. The company originally was granted access to stream non-professional and amateur snooker events, before being allowed to sponsor the inaugural Chinese Professional Championship in January 2009. After the tournament was widely watched in China and in other countries, Golden Cue, with the help of Chinese snooker company Star, founded the Golden Cue TV station, which went live in March 2009. By April 2009, Golden Cue had been given rights to show the early rounds of the 2009 World Snooker Championship, and were offered to sponsor the inaugural World Open tournament held in October 2009. Rise to the mainstream Golden Cue were initally only granted rights to show the early rounds of the 2009 World Snooker Championship, but after the snooker table company Star contacted the WPBSA, Golden Cue were granted access to show the final sessions of the World Championship semi-finals and final. Over 100 million people tuned in to watch the tournament over the course of two weeks, meaning the 2009 World Snooker Championship was the most watched sporting event in China since the 1996 Olympic Games. During the 2009 Shanghai Masters, Golden Cue signed a deal with the WPBSA to sponsor the tournament from 2010 until at least 2017, as well as extending the one-year contract for the World Open to at least 2015. By 2010, Golden Cue were the sponsors for the Shanghai Masters, Wuxi Classic, World Open and the China Open, and began sponsoring both the Hainan Classic and the International Championship in 2011. Online streaming service Golden Cue announced an online streaming service on July 5th, 2010. The service would be available worldwide via subscription, in 87 different countries including the United Kingdom and the United States. As of September 2011, Golden Cue currently shows nine professional snooker events including the three Triple Crown events, as well as four Pool World Tour events and six Amateur Snooker events. Controversy Golden Cue has been criticised due to its "elitist sponsorship." In 2014, WPBSA Presidential candidate David Moore criticised the company and its sponsorship of the International Championship, after it was confirmed only the top eight players in the rankings would be given "free subsidies." Also in 2014, alternative WPBSA Presidential candidate Gary Wilkinson announced in his presidential pledge that he would terminate all sponsorship with Golden Cue by 2017, unless measures were put in place to subsidise lower ranked players in future tournaments.